Contagious Faith by Mark Mittelberg

Author:Mark Mittelberg [Mittelberg, Mark]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Zondervan
Published: 2021-07-02T00:00:00+00:00

Jesus: Don’t Believe My Words? Check Out My Works!

It’s surprising to some people that Jesus, too, often used the Reason-Giving approach to reach others. He told his critics, “Don’t believe me unless I carry out my Father’s work. But if I do his work, believe in the evidence of the miraculous works I have done, even if you don’t believe me. Then you will know and understand that the Father is in me, and I am in the Father” (John 10:37–38 NLT, emphasis mine).

Jesus was saying that if his critics were unwilling to take him at his word, then they ought to consider his supernatural activities instead, including his divine insights and miraculous interventions, and be convinced by those. He even went so far as to declare that those who had seen his miracles firsthand, but refused to repent, would be held more accountable at the judgment (see Matthew 11:20–24).

In fact, Jesus gave this stern warning about Capernaum, a place close to his heart and which Matthew called Jesus’s “own town” (Matthew 9:1). “And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted to the heavens? No, you will go down to Hades. For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day. But I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you” (Matthew 11:23–24).

This fits with the principle Jesus taught in Luke 12:48: “From the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.” And part of what Jesus entrusted to the people around him were words and miraculous works that gave compelling evidence that he really was who he claimed to be: the divine Son of God.

Many other examples could be given, but let’s just look at Jesus’s response to John the Baptist. John was languishing in prison, and in his isolation, he began to doubt some of what he had been confident of in his earlier days regarding Jesus. So, he sent some of his disciples to Jesus and had them ask him point blank, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?” (Matthew 11:3).

Upon hearing this question, Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me” (verses 5–6).

Jesus didn’t tell John’s disciples to go and challenge John to “just have more faith,” or to “pray and read his Bible more.” No, he gave them reasons to reinforce John’s faith. Specifically, he pointed to the miracles he had performed as evidence of his identity, and he showed that he was fulfilling ancient predictions about the Messiah, the one who “heals all your diseases” (Psalm 103:3) and who would “proclaim good news to the poor” (Luke 4:16–21, especially verse 18, fulfilling Isaiah 61:1–2).

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